Bre-X expects Busang report this weekend

Bre-X expects Busang report this weekend

TORONTO (Reuter): Canada's Bre-X Minerals Ltd. said Friday it expected to release a key report today that may show just how much gold is in the controversial Busang find in Indonesia.

"We expect the report from Strathcona this (last) weekend. We're not guaranteed that we are going to get, but we expect it," Bre-X spokesman Steve McAnulty said in an interview on Friday.

Bre-X hired consultant Strathcona Mineral Services Ltd. to review its Busang project after doubts emerged in March over what has been called the gold find of the century in March.

While the Calgary-based gold prospector said it still hoped to release the report's findings today, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) on Friday braced for the frenzied trading in Bre-X shares expected when the report is made public.

Busang partner Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc. said on March 26 its preliminary tests found "insignificant" amounts of gold.

Bre-X has estimated the site contains about 71 million ounces of gold.

After Freeport's announcement, panic selling of Bre-X shares lopped almost C$3 billion ($2.1 billion) from the company's stock market value.

McAnulty said Bre-X's plan to issue a news release on the report before North American financial markets opened on Monday will depend on when the company gets the report.

"As far as having something out on Monday, if we get the report in time and we're able to that, absolutely. But it's all dependent on when we get the report," McAnulty said.

While the mining world awaits Strathcona's findings, anxious investors on Friday placed their final bets on whether the Indonesian gold discovery is a bonanza or a bust.

"It all comes down to do they have the gold or don't they? And if so, how much? That basically are the two questions that have to be answered," said Ira Katzin, an investment advisor with Toronto-based brokerage RBC Dominion Securities.

Bre-X stock closed up 19 cents Canadian (14 cents) at C$3.23 ($2.34) in heavy turnover of 9.25 million shares on the TSE.

Analysts said the last flurry of trading before Monday's expected announcement was driven purely by rumors. "Some investors are saying let's go to Las Vegas without taking a plane. That in essence is what they're doing," Katzin said.

Special rules

Meanwhile, the TSE set special trading rules for Bre-X shares to handle the huge volumes expected next week.

Frantic trading in the days after Freeport's announcement in March overwhelmed the TSE's computer trading system, forcing embarrassed officials to shutdown the system on several occasions.

A typical active TSE stock trades up to 300 orders per day, but the highest daily order for Bre-X so far has been 5,300 orders.

To avoid another system meltdown, the TSE said on Friday brokers can only accept and enter day orders with no special terms. A day order is an order that is only valid for one trading day.

Also, orders entered by brokers that are well outside the quoted market may be canceled.

The TSE said the modified rules were necessary "in anticipation of what could be an unprecedented number of orders following release of the ... interim report."